Tag Archives: Duchess of Cambridge

The Week That Was – April 20 to April 26

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So the week began on Easter Sunday, with the Royals going to St Andrews Anglican Cathedral in Sydney and later on, taking George to Taronga Zoo, where they opened a bilby enclosure. They took Easter Monday off, visited Uluru on Tuesday, Adelaide on Wednesday and were in Canberra on Thursday and Friday.

This week, as we get even closer to the Budget we’re starting to hear about what may or may not be cut from the budget and what we are going to have to sacrifice. This week seems to be focused on cuts to the health service. There have been suggestions that people on the disability pension will have to go to independent doctors and not their GPs to get the stamp of approval for the pension. There is also mention of cutting the amount of money people on the disability pension earn. One of the major issues here is that those with mental illnesses and disabilities could be disadvantaged as their mental state can vary. There could also be cuts to Medicare Locals, an after-hours GP service. This has major benefits for the chronically ill, who would otherwise have to go to Emergency, saving lots of money.

Another thing people are worried about cuts to is the Indigenous Health Service, in particular mental health and rehabilitation services, as well as the concern with raising the pension age, given the average life expectancy of Aboriginal males is less than 70 years old (ABS). Comments have been made about how cuts are going to make the PM look bad, given he has said he is focused on closing the gap and being there for the indigenous people.

If that doesn’t concern you, at least we’re spending about $12 billion on F-35 fighters from the USA. We originally ordered 14, and now we’re getting 58 more. They’re due in 2020, and have had some major issues, given the development of these planes are over budget and have had some safety issues – to the point where Canada and Denmark are reconsidering their ordering of the planes.

ANZAC Day was on Friday and the royals apparently surprised everyone by showing up to the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial – which really doesn’t shock me – and then came back later that day to lay a wreath at the ANZAC Day Ceremony. Then they left the country, with George giving us one of the best pictures of this entire tour – you can see it below in the Tweets of the Week.

And finally this week, a former NSW Premier Neville Wran died this week. He seemed to be liked by most in politics, and brought in a lot of changes for NSW including random breath testing, decriminalising homosexuality, developed modern lotto and started ICAC, only to resign because of it. He is getting a state funeral on May 1.

Tweets of the Week

In the mad rush to cover what was thought to be a hijack of an Australian plane but was just an allegedly drunk passenger, you can type too fast and have spelling issues

Oh, and this is why outsourcing sub-editing is a bad thing

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

A humourous take on why you should support same-sex marriage – College Humor

Behind the scenes of the ABC’s Coverage of Barry O’Farrell’s resignation – ABC Back Story

Hillary Clinton and the Fake Baby Conspiracy – SMH

The Week That Was – April 13 to April 19

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Well, NSW Political craziness overtook the ABC News NSW and ABC News 24 for the last few days, so I may have missed something. If you want to take a look at what happened in NSW have a look here.

So, this week saw Tony Abbott back from North Asia and Joe Hockey warn us about how tough the budget will have to be in order to fix everything. One idea being floated is raising the pension age to 70. Not immediately, mind you. Currently it is 65, and in a few years it will rise to 67. Only after that will it rise to 70. People seem somewhat unimpressed, but that’s because young people, like myself, will not be able to retire until 70, while people my parents’ age can retire 3-5 years earlier. In some ways I’m sort of expecting people to go on strike and protest this, but I think that’s the result of living in France, where almost anything will have the people go on strike. Anyway, Hockey said that the rises in the pension need to be “sustainable” and if you’ve got a good memory (and paid attention), then you will remember that Tony Abbott said in the election campaign that there wouldn’t be changes to the pension. Oh, and government organisations like the CSIRO are getting a bit antsy over whether or not they are going to have their funding cut.

Badgery’s Creek will become the location for Sydney’s second airport, with construction to begin in 2016. This decision has been made after almost 50 years. It will cost $2.5 billion to build and most of that money will come from the private sector. The government has promised to put in some major infrastructure – train lines and connections to the motorway and freeway systems around Western Sydney, along with some form of ring road. There are a few issues though – will the airport be a 24/7 airport or will it have curfews like Sydney Kingsford Smith? Will Sydney Airport, which has the first right of refusal, try to prevent the Badgery’s Creek Airport from being built and operated? What about the people who are living in the area that will become the airport and runways and the environment surrounding it? The other issue, one that came up on Wednesday, is the NSW Government’s involvement post-O’Farrell. Apparently, there is no need to worry and the Airport will go on as planned.

The Royals are in Australia this week and next week, flying into Sydney on Wednesday. They’ve spent their time here so far going to the Opera House, The Blue Mountains, Bear Cottage, Manly Beach, and Brisbane. Today (Sunday) they’ve been to Church and might be taking George to Taronga Zoo.

Also this week, the ABC-run Australia Network, an Australian news and entertainment channel for the Asia-Pacific Region got landing rights in China, meaning that they can broadcast there, at least through a Shanghai-based media organisation. This is significant, because unlike BBC World and CNN International which are only allowed in hotels (at least that’s what I understand the case to be), they will be able to broadcast not only in hotels, but also to the Chinese people. Maybe the ABC and Australia Network’s funding shouldn’t be cut.

Have a lovely Easter.

Tweet of the Week

Political journo Oscar-style selfies during the NSW leadership ballot

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Tom Meagher (Jill Meagher’s husband) on violence against women – ABC Online’s The Drum

Why Gladys Berejiklian couldn’t become Premier of NSW – SMH

The Lateline Interview that had people talking – ABC Online

In Case You Missed It….

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…Barry O’Farrell resigned on Wednesday.

It turns out that O’Farrell did receive a bottle of $3000 Grange (1959 Vintage) from Nick Di Girolamo and did write a thank you note. But, given he vehemently denied it on Tuesday and may (or may not – I could be wrong) have said that he would resign if proven otherwise, he’s had to go.

On Tuesday, following his appearance at ICAC he spoke to the media.

Then overnight, it appears Di Girolamo found the letter and gave it to ICAC, which meant that O’Farrell had to resign – you can see his speech here on the ABC website. Then, O’Farrell was called back to ICAC, speculation arose as to who would become the new Premier of NSW and Tony Abbott spoke to the media. Abbott was mainly talking about Badgery’s Creek, but that was taken over by the news of the resignation – and the first question asked by a journalist at Abbott’s press conference went like this:

From there, Barry O’Farrell pulled out of welcoming the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George to Sydney, and has been keeping quiet ever since. The reactions from the other sides of NSW Politics have been interesting, with John Robertson (NSW Labor Opposition Leader) and John Kaye (Greens MLC) both talking to the media about it.

On Thursday, Gladys Berejiklian and Mike Baird released a statement saying they would run on the same ticket for the party leadership with Baird as Premier and Berejiklian as deputy leader. Pru Goward put her hand up for the deputy leadership in the morning, before pulling out after lunch as did Anthony Roberts. Meanwhile, Jillian Skinner, Barry O’Farrell’s deputy stepped aside to allow for Gladys Berejiklian to take up the role. Both Baird and Berejiklian were elected unopposed to the Liberal leadership.

And that is it for now, as Mike Baird and Gladys Berejiklian spend Easter reshuffling NSW State Cabinet.